Free Food/Cooking Class Giveaway from Craftsy

The beginning of a new year is a good time to get out of the box and learn a new skill. I was delighted when I was offered the opportunity to take one of Craftsy’s cooking or baking classes. They have several classes that I knew I would enjoy. The only problem was choosing which one to take. 

Here’s your chance! Enter the Craftsy Food & Cooking Class Giveaway for a chance to win a FREE class!

The giveaway ends on Jan 25th so be sure to enter soon for your chance to win a FREE Food/Cooking class from Craftsy.

 

I thought about taking the Artisan Bread Making Class with Peter Reinhart. He is one of my mentors and I have a lot of his bread books. I’ve taken classes with him before so I know his class would be good, but I decided to try something else.

I also considered taking a Jam and Marmalade Class, or the Artisan Cheese Making Class, or Croissants Making Class, or Italian Pasta. I saw How to Make Gnocchi Like a Pro with Gerri Sarnataro and was so tempted.

I came really close to choosing the Classic Italian Pasta Sauces: Meat & Tomato with Giuliano Hazan because I love pasta, and Italian Food goes so well with bread. So many good choices… which one should I pick?

Then I found the soup-making class. I love to make soup, but the soups I usually make are basic soups. I decided it was time to take my soup-making skills to the next level with Building Flavorful Soups, Peter Berley.

I made the Cauliflower and Leek Potage with Nut Brown Butter. Oh my goodness!  I was not disappointed.  It tastes divine.  I took one bite and my eyes and taste buds lit up.

 

When I started the class, I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.  However, the more I watched the videos and listened to Peter’s tips, the more motivated I was to get in the kitchen and prepare some of his soups.  Since the class was online, I was able to refer to the videos while I prepared the soup.  I found this to be very helpful.

I really like Peter Berley’s teaching method. He starts off by telling the story of the Stone Soup. I had heard that story before, but the cute animation and his narration brought the story to life. It made me appreciate all of the different components that go into soups.

In Lesson 2, we learned how to make Vegetable & Herb: Broths and Soups. This was one of my favorite lessons. He makes such delicious broths and garnishes them with unique flavors. 

Lesson 3 was making Japanese Dashi Variations & Asian Soups. I did not realize how rich kelp was and how much flavor it adds or brings out in the other ingredients in soup. 

Peter provided very informative and useful information throughout all of the lessons. He talked a lot about using ingredients and flavors that create umami. According to Wikipedia, umami can be translated as a “pleasant savory taste.” 

Lesson 4 was on making Shellfish Broths, Soups & Stews and Lesson 5 was on Poultry & Meat: Broths & Soups. All of his instructions were very clear and easy to follow.

Lesson 6 on Pureed Soups was another one of my favorite sessions. I really like pureed soups. Peter started this lesson by providing the pros and cons of using different types of tools to puree the soups. I was glad he recommended the immersion blender because that’s what I like to use as well.

In this lesson, he showed us how to make Cauliflower and Leek Potage with Nut Brown Butter, Pumpkin, Fennel and Leek Broth, Roasted Squash Potage with Spiced Crème Fraiche and Golden Split Pea Soup with Spiced Oil. 

I really like how Peter explains the science behind why you do things like precooking or blanching the cauliflower to release the sulfur and funky flavors and how leaving the top off the pot allows those funky flavors to escape. He also explained how adding the juice of half a lemon to the boiling water keeps the cauliflower from turning brown.

 

I also learned some tips on how to easily wash leeks. I’ve definitely been doing it the hard way.  From now on, I will wash my leeks in a bowl and then finish chopping them. It’s the little things I found the most useful about this course, but those are the things you’ll use everyday.

When we sliced the leeks for the cauliflower soup, we discarded the tough greens, but we didn’t throw them away. They were used in the Pumpkin, Fennel & Leek Broth. 

The only part of the leeks that didn’t go into either the soup or the broth was the end parts.  Those went into the compost bin, but not the trash. 

 

I enjoyed this course and the instructor. Peter doesn’t waste anything.  If it doesn’t go into the soup, then it either goes into a broth or the compost bin. Being a gardener myself, I found this very refreshing and useful. I didn’t know that kelp was good for compost.  Now, I need to make some more soup so I can feed my compost.

I also liked making the Cauliflower and Leek Potage. The nut brown butter was oh so good. I didn’t have any fresh dill so I left that out, but I loved this soup!  It’s so smooth and creamy and delicious. I’ve been telling everyone about it. Now I’ll have to make it again and again so I can share the experience with my family and friends.

 

It’s your turn!  Enter the Craftsy Food & Cooking Class Giveaway   for a chance to win a FREE class!

The giveaway ends on Jan 25th so be sure to enter soon for your chance to win a FREE Food/Cooking class from Craftsy.

 

Good luck!  I know you’ll enjoy taking one of these classes as much as I did.

Happy Baking & Cooking!

Cathy

 

 

Disclosure: I received a FREE class from Craftsy in exchange for this review. I appreciate the opportunity and enjoyed taking the class. I am also an affiliate for them so if you click on one of their links or enroll in one of their classes from this page, I may earn a commission. I am very grateful for your support of this site. It helps me to continue to provide you with quality content. Thank you.